Pre-verbal position in BP: a reinterpretation of the "avoid pronoun principle"

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the changes occurring in Brazilian Portuguese, regarding the possibility of null subjects, and suggest the kinds of constraints that explain its present distribution. In this paper, we will propose that the null subject parameter is defi ned at the interfaces. At the level of Logical Form, a constraint like Chomsky’s (1981) Avoid Pronoun will be atwork for languages that are prototypical null subject languages, like Spanish and Chinese. For languages like BP, a system with a particular distribution of null subjects, the constraint will be more specifi c: Avoid non-referential pronouns. We will also propose that at the other interface, the Phonetic Form, languages have fi lters regarding their rhythm. To account for the preference for certain forms, a constraint of the form: Avoid V1 will be proposed. This constraint hasnothing to do with an XP constituent in Spec of C, like in V2 languages, but with a phonetic requirement. This means that the initial element can be a head or an XP.

The partial loss of free inversion and of referential null subjects in Brazilian Portuguese

“…While, before the change, examples with NSs exhibited a V1 sentential pattern, they now appeared as a V2 pattern with overt subject pronouns. The same happened with free inversion, which is more acceptable when the first position is occupied by some constituent, resulting in a linear V2 pattern (Kato & Duarte 2018). We can conclude that BP is a sort of partial NS language with remaining NSs and free inversion, both strongly constrained by prosodic factors in both cases.…”